


Two strangers in a bar

by Krilymcc (KristiLynn)



Category: How I Met Your Mother, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Community: xover_exchange, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-03
Updated: 2013-02-03
Packaged: 2017-11-28 02:05:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/669019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KristiLynn/pseuds/Krilymcc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The time has finally come for Ted to meet his future wife.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two strangers in a bar

**Author's Note:**

  * For [a_q](https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_q/gifts).



> Written for the xover exchange over on Livejournal. Written for a_q for the prompt: How I Met Your Mother/Once Upon A Time – the Mother comes from a little town called Storybrooke.

\--  
 _Kids, in the spring of 2013 I was surrounded by couples, and to be completely honest I had all but given up on finding my one._

_But you know the saying: Love comes to when you’re not looking for it. And you know what? That’s exactly what happened._

_Are you ready kids? Because it’s finally time for the story of how I met your mother._  
\--

**Spring 2013 :**

When Ted first saw his future wife she was fresh off the bus from Maine, stumbling into McLaren’s suitcases in hand. 

Well technically Lily was the first one to see her. 

“Hey Ted, hottie at the bar.” 

Ted slowly turned around in his seat and looked at her for a few seconds before turning back to the gang.

“Yeah,” He nodded. 

“ _Yeah?_ That’s all?” Robin scoffed, “Look at the girl Ted.”

“She’s pretty.” 

Marshal shook his head. “She’s more than just pretty.” 

“Go talk to her Ted,” Lily urged.

“Yeah go talk to her,” Barney seconded.

In just moments the group was chanting “Talk to her, talk to her.”

So finally he threw his hands up in the air and jumped out of the booth, “Fine! I’ll talk to her.” 

 

Ted began to walk over to her, mentally cursing his friends the whole way, and slid onto the barstool beside the girl. 

“Hi, I’m Ted.”

“Ruby,” The woman said without as much as a glance away from the newspaper. 

_Now your mom and I differ on this part of the story. She likes to say that I didn’t know what to say and was a complete idiot. But you and I, we know differently._

“That’s a nice name. Ruby. Like the jewel. Or the color. Did you know it’s also a size of printer’s type? Don’t feel bad if you didn’t, not a lot of people know that.” Ruby looked up at him with a furrowed brow, “It’s a nice name. That’s all I’m saying.”

She pushed her hair out of her face, “If you're trying to hit on me I'm going to stop you right here. I'm really not interested.” 

Ted shook his head, “No, no, no." He sighed, "My friends over there made me come over here." Ruby's eyebrows shot up. "No, not made. Forget I said made. Encouraged. That’s a better word. Look, it's just that if I go back over there now there will be a lot of jokes made in my expense."

"So you're trying to kill time until it looks like you gave it a good try?" 

"Exactly. It's only gonna be another minute or so. Let me buy you a drink "

“Make it Chicken wings and we’ve got a deal.”

_See? Nailed it._

\--  
“So where are you from?” Ted asked as Carl headed back to the kitchen to place the order. 

“I’m from a little town in Maine. I lived there with my Grandmother.”

“But what are you doing here now?”

“We ran a restaurant but it burnt down.”

“Is that why you were so engrossed in the paper? Did you burn it down and you’re trying to find out if they’re on to you?”

Ruby stared at him trying to figure out if this guy was for real and then told him, “When it burnt down Granny said it was a fresh start. She said she realized I needed to figure out who I am and she was setting me free. So I’m looking for an apartment.”

“You came to New York without a place to live?” 

Ruby shrugged, “I knew if I stopped to think I would talk myself out of it.”

_Now kids here’s something you need to learn: sometimes when you meet a pretty girl you find yourself saying or doing things that at any other would have been ridiculous. And that’s the reason I found myself saying :_

“You know, I have a room for rent.”

Ruby raised her eyebrows, “You do?” 

“Yeah.”

“Isn’t this a little presumptuous? I mean we just met and you’re already asking me to move in with you? We haven’t even gone on a date yet.”

“I bought you wings,” Ted said, and then as if he had been waiting in the wings for his cue Carl came and sat the plate down on the bar. 

“Touché,” Ruby laughed, “But still, I just met you how do I know _you’re_ not some kind of criminal?”

“True. But I can assure you that I'm not a criminal, or a creepy person. Or worse: a bad roommate. You can ask my friends over there. Three out of the four of them were my roommates at one time or another.”

Ruby looked over at the booth and then back at Ted, “Let me eat this first. You did buy them after all.”

\--

“They’re really nice people,” Ted whispered as they walked up to the table “Guys, this is Ruby. Ruby these are my friends: Marshall, Lilly, Barney and Robin.” 

“Hi.” Ruby waved at everyone. 

“She’s thinking about moving into the empty room at my place.”

Everyone stared at Ted for a moment trying to tell if he was playing a prank on them and then slowly, one by one, they all began to say, “Hi.”

It was quiet for far longer than anyone was comfortable with, and then Marshall stood up.

“Ted you want to help me with pick out a song?” 

“Not really.”

“I really need your help.” Marshall took a hold of Ted’s arm and pulled him over by the jukebox.

“What is wrong with you?” Ted asked as he rubbed his bicep. 

“What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you? You invited a woman you just met to live with you? How do you know she’s not some kind of killer of something?”

“I asked her. “

“You asked her? Oh well if you asked her then everything is alright.”

“Marshall just trust me on this. I get a really good vibe from her.”

Marshall stood there for a moment, staring at his friend and then said, “I want to talk to her.” 

“You want to talk to her?” 

“I want to talk to her.” And with that Marshall turned around and headed back to the table leaving Ted just standing there shaking his head. 

“This isn’t gonna end well at all,” Ted sighed as he followed his friend back to the table. 

“So, Ruby was it?“ Marshall asked sitting back down at the table, “Go On is Community with more viewers, yes or no?” 

“…Yes?”

“Alright. Next question: There are too many Paranormal Activity movies, true or false.”

“…False?”

“Finale question: Werewolves or Vampires?” 

Finally Ruby answered without hesitation, “Wolves.” 

Marshall turned to Ted, “She got two out of three right. She has my blessing.”

“We can all sleep easier tonight.” 

 

\--

The night had drawn to a close and two by two everyone had left, leaving just Ted and Ruby. 

“You do know that it’s kind of crazy to invite a woman you just met to move in with you.”

“It could have been worse. I could have asked you to marry me.” 

“You wouldn’t!” Ruby laughed before taking a sip of beer.

“I once told a woman I loved her on the first date.” 

“What happened?” 

“We dated for a year.” 

“No!” 

\--  
 _So your mom moved in. And she was a really good roommate. Okay, she did wear her red cape for three days out of the month, which I did find strange at the time, and she was messy, and let’s face it she watched Labyrinth more times than a self-respecting adult should, but somehow she was the perfect roommate for me._

\--

“So Starbucks tomorrow morning?” Ted asked as Ruby slid her coat on. 

“Sounds good to me.” 

“And you’ll be okay getting to the hotel from here?” 

“Yes.” Ruby smiled. “You’re really sweet Ted, but you don’t have to worry about me. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.” She paused, “And besides, if anything did happen to me two of my best friends are cops. They know places where a body can never be found.”

Ted nodded his head and laughed to himself as he pushed the door open and they walked outside. 

“What’s so funny?” Ruby asked. 

“I was just thinking that this is going to make a really good story one day.”

“You mean like a ‘How did you two meet’ story that people tell at cocktail parties?” 

“Something like that.”

“Well let’s hope that you meet another woman by asking her to be your roommate ‘cause you and I—“Ruby poked him, “Never going to happen.” 

“Don’t be so sure. I can be very charming.” 

“Just keep telling yourself that.” 

\--

_And that kids, is the story of how I met your mother._

_…_

_By the way kids, don’t tell your mom what I said about Labyrinth._

\--

 

**-END-**


End file.
